Catching Monsters

Chapter 248 Golden Melody City

"drive!"

"drive!"

Two fast horses galloped side by side on the muddy road in the grassland.

Jiang Yun and Linglong were each wearing a set of Hu people's clothing, with their faces covered with black scarves. The journey here surprised Jiang Yun a little, the entire grassland was so huge.

They had been in the grassland for five days and rarely saw tribes of Hu people on the road.

However, we often encountered a large number of Hu soldiers, most of whom wore leather armor and carried weapons.

It was not like what Jiang Yun imagined, that all the Northern Hu were cavalrymen.

Of course, this is normal. If the Northern Hu could gather hundreds of thousands of cavalry, that would be a huge concept. The Great Zhou Kingdom would probably have been destroyed long ago.

Fortunately, these soldiers were rushing to gather in the direction of Jianchi Pass and did not pay attention to the two of them.

As it grew dark, the two found a lawn, pitched two tents, lit a bonfire, set up a small pot, and cooked the food they brought with them.

Linglong sat by the campfire, took out a map, and looked at it carefully. She said to Jiang Yun beside her, "It will take about half a day to reach the destination, and we will reach the Jinqu City of the Wanyan tribe."

Jiang Yun nodded. Before coming to the grassland, Jiang Yun thought that all the grassland tribes lived in tents, made a living on horseback, and migrated around.

This was his preconceived impression, and he only found out after arriving at the grassland and talking with Linglong.

In fact, these Hu people were not stupid. After coming into contact with the southern civilization several hundred years ago, they tried to build cities and develop commerce, but the resources on the grassland were limited.

The vast majority of civilians can only live a nomadic life, but the leaders of various major tribes have long begun to build cities for their living.

The Jinqu City is located in the northeast of the grassland and has a population of about 200,000. In the Zhou Kingdom, it is a lower-middle-sized city.

But on the grassland, it is not easy to build a city of such scale and gather people together.

It is considered the largest city in Northern Hu.

"What do we do after we get there?" Jiang Yun stood up, scooped out two bowls of sticky noodle soup from the iron pot on the campfire, and handed them to Linglong.

Jiang Yun took a sip and found that the sticky noodle soup did not taste very good. It had too much salt and was too salty.

"Feng Yu said that there is a medicine shop opened by a southerner in the north of Jinqu City. It is called Zhongcai Shop. The owner inside is an informant of the Jinyiwei. We just need to go there." Linglong took a sip of the noodle soup, frowned slightly, and then drank it all in one breath.

"Pharmacy?" Jiang Yun asked curiously, "Do these barbarians also drink Chinese medicine?"

"Of course not." Linglong laughed and said calmly, "I specialize in collecting all kinds of rare and scarce medicinal herbs in the Zhou Kingdom."

"When the Hu people get sick, most of them are cured. If they have a little status, they will invite a wizard to perform a ritual, or perform bloodletting treatment, etc...."

"In our eyes, this method seems barbaric and primitive, but in the eyes of the Hu people, it is unreasonable for us southerners to pick weeds and eat them when we are sick..."

After saying that, Linglong got up and went into her tent: "Go to bed early. We should be able to reach Jinqu City by noon tomorrow."

"We have to find a way to get in."

At noon the next day, Jiang Yun and Linglong had already arrived outside the gate of Jinqu City from afar.

Although it is called a city, the wall is only three meters high, and most of it is made of rammed earth. However, there is a long queue at the city gate.

Most of the team were Hu merchants, queuing to enter the city.

This kind of prosperous scene is rare among the northern Hu.

Jiang Yun and Linglong did not approach. Linglong whispered, "We are from the south. We can't enter the city with horses..."

"Pretending to be merchants?" Jiang Yun asked in a low voice. He also saw that there were many southerners among the many Hu merchants. However, most of these people had shackles on their feet, were barefoot, dressed in thin clothes and had weak bodies. They were obviously captured slaves.

"I can't pretend." Linglong shook her head and said, "The two countries are about to go to war. Even normal southern merchants will not be allowed to enter Jinqu City."

"If you want to enter the city normally, you can only disguise yourself as a slave."

Hearing this, Jiang Yun touched his chin, and then, not far behind him, a group of Hu people were slowly approaching.

Huyan Yan'er was riding a horse. She was in her early twenties and was at the front of the team. She was wearing an exquisite narrow-sleeved pleated dress, riding a horse, and wearing an exquisite neck-protecting long skirt and hood. Her skin was slightly dark, but she looked very heroic. She wore a long Hu people's sword on her waist.

The entire Hu army has more than a hundred people. This time she came to Jinqu City on behalf of the Huyan tribe. She was invited by the Khan of the Wanyan tribe to discuss the attack on the Zhou Kingdom.

The team also carried many gifts for the Khan.

The Huyan tribe is also ranked among the top five tribes in the entire grassland, and Huyan Yaner is well-known on the grassland.

She is good at riding, archery, swords, spears and clubs, and is much stronger than her brothers of the same clan.

On the grassland, although male dominance over female is more serious, people value their own abilities more. It is for this reason that Huyan Yaner was able to represent her father and the Huyan tribe to meet the Khan.

Suddenly, two figures jumped out from the side.

Huyan Yaner frowned, put away the reins, looked at the two men and asked loudly: "Azhe shui (who)?"

Jiang Yun showed a harmless smile on his face: "Miss, do you accept slaves?"

slave?

Southerner?

Hu Yanyan, who was proficient in the Zhou language, stared at Jiang Yun and asked, "Are you from the south?"

As he said that, he looked at the feet of the two men. There were no shackles. Were they not slaves?
Listening to Jiang Yun's words, Hu Yanyan asked in a deep voice: "Are you two slave traders?"

After she finished speaking, she snorted coldly. Slave traders were common among the northern barbarians, but this was the first time she had encountered a southerner who was a slave trader himself.

She then said, "Bring it here and let me see it."

"It's just the two of us. Do you think it's suitable?" Jiang Yun pointed at himself and Linglong. Linglong frowned slightly but didn't say anything. After all, as a member of the royal family, it was still a bit embarrassing to be a slave to others.

Linglong couldn't help but look at Jiang Yun, thinking to herself, what a bastard, how come he looks a little excited when he sees this beautiful Hu girl?

Huyan Yaner frowned and stared at the two of them, snorting coldly: "Ayi Ri Le (Get lost)."

Then he waved his whip, not bothering to pay attention to the two of them, and continued to head towards Jinqu City. Jiang Yun and Linglong looked at each other.

"It seems that this female Hu people doesn't like handsome guys like you." Linglong laughed softly.

"Let's go, let's follow them." Jiang Yun's eyes lit up slightly, and he said, "This person is not a Hu merchant. He looks a bit unusual. If we follow her team, the guards won't be too strict."

"What if we are discovered?" Linglong asked.

Jiang Yun rolled his eyes at Linglong and said, "With our skills, if we are discovered, we can just run away. We can wait until midnight and then climb over the wall to get in..."

Anyway, this rammed earth wall is only three meters high, and it is as defenseless as can be in front of them.

Following the team four or five meters away, the two walked slowly and soon arrived at the entrance of the city gate.

Sure enough, when the Hu soldiers on guard saw Huyan Yaner, they came forward to salute respectfully and then let her go.

At this time, a Hu man came to Hu Yanyan'er and whispered, "Sir, those two southerners are secretly following us and trying to sneak into the city. What do you think?"

Huyan Yan'er smiled and said, "Let them go in together. After they enter the city, send two experts to follow them and see what they want to do."

"Yes."

Jiang Yun and Linglong, who followed the team, entered the city smoothly.

Watching Huyan Yaner's team going further and further away, Jiang Yun and Linglong quickly went into an alley and disappeared.

Then I strolled around Jinqu City. Most of the houses in Jinqu City were made of rammed earth.

There weren't enough trees on the grassland for them to build houses.

The entire Jinqu City Street was extremely prosperous, and the wide streets were lined with merchants doing business on both sides.

Meat, cowhide, dairy products, etc., the abundance of products and the level of liveliness are even better than the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Of course this is understandable, as the Zhou Kingdom had a mature business and every city was able to trade.

But on the grassland, there is only one city as big as Jinqu City.

Many people from all over the grassland came from thousands of miles away to trade...

How can it not be prosperous?

From time to time, you can see soldiers from Jinqu City patrolling by.

However, Jiang Yun and Linglong were more or less conspicuous when walking on the street.

Although there were many southerners on the street, most of them were shackled, unkempt, ragged, and thin. They were obviously slaves. There were even many shops on the street selling...

Jiang Yun and Ling Long were wearing Hu clothing, but they were obviously not slaves...

From time to time, someone would look towards them.

"Will we be a little conspicuous?" Jiang Yun said in a low voice.

Linglong also frowned and whispered, "Let's go find the herbal medicine shop Feng Yu mentioned and stay there."

The two hurriedly left the bustling street, but Linglong soon felt something was wrong. She looked back and whispered, "We are being followed."

"Follow me." Linglong gave Jiang Yun a look and walked into a remote and deserted alley.

Following behind, Huyan Yaner's two Hu men hurriedly followed into the alley, but as soon as they entered, Linglong fell from the sky and kicked them out quickly with both feet.

Two muffled sounds.

The two of them fainted instantly.

Jiang Yun walked forward and observed them carefully, then recognized them and whispered, "They are the subordinates of the Hu woman just now."

"Let's go." Linglong frowned and looked at the two of them.

After getting rid of the pursuit, Jiang Yun and Linglong searched for a full hour and finally found the medicine shop called Zhongcaipu.

Sitting inside was a middle-aged shopkeeper who looked to be in his forties. He was wearing a gray Confucian robe.

At this time, there was a foreigner in the store carrying a lot of herbs in his hands, and the middle-aged shopkeeper was paying him with a smile.

After the Hu man left, Jiang Yun and Linglong quickly walked in.

The middle-aged shopkeeper looked them up and down and asked with a smile, "Who are you?"

"From the south." After Linglong said that, the middle-aged shopkeeper's eyes moved slightly, and he hurried forward, closed the wooden door, and then lit a candle in the house.

Jiang Yun then took out a token of the Jinyiwei: "Jiang Yun, a captain of the Jinyiwei East Pacification Division."

"Master Jiang." The shopkeeper took the token and after confirming it was correct, he introduced himself and said, "My name is Pan Nangui, and I have been waiting for you two for many days."

Then, the shopkeeper took out a piece of paper from the hidden slot under the counter and handed it to the two of them: "This is your mission in Jinqu City this time."

Jiang Yun and Linglong looked at each other, then looked at the contents on the paper.

Then both of their expressions changed slightly.

(End of this chapter)